Rogers Memorial Hospital Welcomes New VP of Operations in Oconomowoc

Posted: July 29, 2014 - 1:36pm

(Oconomowoc, Wis.) Suzanne D. Harrison, M.P.H., has joined Rogers Memorial Hospital’s administrative leadership team as the new vice president of operations for the Oconomowoc campus. In this role, Harrison’s primary responsibility will be day-to-day operations where she will focus on the patient experience and assure quality care.

The Oconomowoc campus is one of five Rogers locations in Wisconsin. A comprehensive continuum of care is offered in this Waukesha County location, including residential, partial hospital and intensive outpatient programming in addition to a 90-bed inpatient hospital.

“I have spent the majority of my career in behavioral health,” Harrison said. “The prevalence of psychiatric disorders is high – about one in five adults in any given year – and many mental disorders first occur in childhood and adolescence. Despite this, there is still such a lack of knowledge and stigma associated with mental illness and substance use disorders. That’s one of the reasons why Rogers resonated with me, as they are actively involved in anti-stigma initiatives. I am very proud to be joining an organization that is fighting the battle on the front lines by ensuring it provides the best care possible and respecting the dignity of the patients it treats.”

A graduate of Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn., Harrison holds a master of public health degree with a concentration in health services administration. Her experience includes both specialty psychiatric hospitals and behavioral health services within general acute hospital settings.

Harrison has held many leadership positions, most recently as the director of psychiatry at LifeBridge Health in Baltimore, Md., where she was responsible for directing administrative, fiscal and program operations of the psychiatry service line and its constituent clinical divisions. She has chaired the Maryland Hospital Association’s Mental Health Workgroup since 2005 and is a founding member of the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems (NAPHS) Committee on Behavioral Healthcare Services within General Healthcare Systems. She became the chair of the NAPHS Steering Committee in 2012. Harrison has also served as the NAPHS Liaison to the American Hospital Association’s Governing Council, Section for Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Services.

Rogers Memorial Hospital is a key corporation of Rogers Behavioral Health System, which also includes: Rogers Memorial Hospital Foundation, Inc.; Rogers Partners in Behavioral Health, LLC; Rogers Center for Research and Training; and Rogers InHealth. The hospital has become nationally recognized for its specialized residential treatment services and affiliations with academic institutions and teaching hospitals in the area. Rogers Memorial Hospital is currently Wisconsin’s largest not-for-profit, private behavioral health hospital, providing adults, children and adolescents with depression and mood disorders treatment, eating disorders treatment, addiction treatment, obsessive-compulsive and anxiety disorders treatment, as well as caring for a variety of other child and adolescent mental health concerns.